My Broken Fairy Tale
by Aura
Summary: Tea's life seems to have fallen apart after the gang's graduation from high school. Can a certain blue-eyed CEO save her from the depths of depression?


Obligatory Opening Remarks:_ I started this story after my purchase of Yugioh seasons 2 and 3 on dvd. Which was the first chance I had to actually watch some of the episodes of the show that I'd missed back when I watched it on T.V. I still have parts of the show I haven't seen but this story will break pieces of 'canon' anyway._

_This is a Tea(Anzu)/Seto pairing in the fiction. If you don't like the pairing…well, you probably won't like the story. Even though this is listed under part of the search options I figured I'd mention it again here for those that didn't pay it any mind._

_Something else to note: This story is mature because of themes I consider mature in nature. It will have times that are considered dark by many people's opinions and I thought it best to label it as mature up front. There may or may not be citrus later on - I haven't decided yet. This though will definitely be one of the darker stories I have attempted._

_Disclaimer: I do not -sadly- own Yu-gi-oh or any of the cards and characters that are a part of the series or game. This is a fan made fiction for those few people out there that have fun reading my craziness. No money will be had by my writing it - all just for fun. …and uh…-insert other usual disclaimer type stuff here-_

_Onto my little story._

_**My Broken Fairy Tale**_

"_With some people solitariness is an escape not from others but from themselves. For they see in the eyes of others only a reflection of themselves."_

_-Eric Hoffer_

**Chapter One:** _Everything has a Price_

_It should be raining…_

That is what Tea Gardner was thinking to herself as she sat alone on a bench in the park, blue eyes staring at the overcast slate sky above. Though her eyes, like the sky, refused to let any precipitation fall. She had cried too much over the past few weeks, there weren't any tears left in her.

After Atem left Yugi and the group left Egypt things were much the same for a few weeks…that was until their graduation from high school. It was as if the event that should have been a mark of accomplishment for the students - a celebration of moving into the next phase of their lives. It had only become a passing from the ignorant bliss of childhood to the harsh reality of adulthood.

The day itself had been pleasant enough, lots of laughs and games between the friends…gifts, family, rejoicing for the event. It wasn't until two days later that her world had started to fall apart.

Yugi's grandfather passed away…he was old, and he'd gotten sick with some form of stomach cancer during their trip away to Egypt…Yugi hadn't told anyone until after the old man was already dead. They hadn't even known he was in the hospital.

Then Yugi…

…maybe it was just the loss of too many friends…it was hard to tell if it had happened on purpose.

It wasn't like her friend to drink, and he had only recently gotten his license. They would never know if it was just an accident though, the crash was so horrific they hadn't even been able to open the casket at the funeral. She hadn't been the one called in to identify him, that sickening responsibility had been laid on Joey.

Then there was Joey…the loss of his best friend had hit him harder than anyone else. He distanced himself from everyone else, even Mai and Tristan didn't seem to be able to reason with him. He and Tristan ended up in a couple of fist fights before Tristan moved away with his parents still on poor terms with the old high school buddy.

Mai didn't even seem to be able to get through to him, Tea and Mai both had tried to convince Joey that the illegal substances he'd taken up weren't the answer for his pain. Yet, he just kicked Mai out of his apartment and hadn't returned any of her calls in several days. She hadn't heard from Serenity either as the girl had been out of the country with her and Joey's parents. Tea hadn't had the heart to tell her what had happened with her brother yet…afraid of what the girl would do.

Tea wanted to go and check on him but she was too fearful of what she might find there. That she might be down yet another friend and just not know it yet.

Her own parents had been arguing so much that she had heard the word 'divorce' getting tossed around and just wanted to get away for a while. From everything, from the world. To escape the broken fairy tale her life had become over the course of the summer.

She knew she had to look like hell, she hadn't been home in two days…her parents were probably going crazy but she didn't want to go face all the arguments that she knew would be waiting for her. She felt dirty from the lack of a shower and her stomach was rumbling at her - she hadn't eaten sense she bought a hot dog earlier in the afternoon from a vendor passing through the park.

She was probably starting to smell but she didn't really care much, the summer's solemn events had just taken everything out of the once feisty young woman. Her jean shorts and the small tee weren't enough to really protect her if it did start to rain, she did put in the effort to move away from the bench where she'd been, ignoring the dirt marks left on her behind as she moved away to just walk.

Walking had become a good way for her to try to pull her thoughts together and do her best to avoid the deepest levels of depression - which was a threatening possibility if ever there was one. She had stopped knowing or worrying about where she was or would end up when she slept on that bench the night before. Though if it was going to rain, she would need to find someplace not outside to rest tonight.

She didn't want to go home. Correction; she refused to go home yet…there had to be someplace she could go.

_**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**_

He was so used to being busy that the short break Mokuba had insisted he take while the younger Kaiba was learning the various details of the business was already getting to him.

"_He probably didn't want me looking over his shoulder the whole time."_ Seto figured with a sigh, hands dejectedly in his pockets as he walked along the streets near the docks. He had been planning to check on some of his investments in the district but Mokuba had already called ahead and told his workers he was suppose to be on vacation. _"I know he's just trying to help…but I'm only going to put up with this so-called forced vacation for a couple of days to see how he does without supervision."_

Nonetheless Kaiba was both proud and irritated with his brother's newfound interest in control, he was developing well - he had never been as intelligent as Seto but neither was he stupid. He was taking to the details of the business better than the young CEO had expected but the sudden days off had been a surprise. Mokuba unlike his brother, had a much more likable personality toward those around him and people seemed willing to do what he asked even if it possibly meant ticking Seto off. That was something he would fix when he walked back into work days earlier than expected.

It had been years sense he'd seriously played duel monsters - after the events he'd witnessed in Egypt and finally admitting that there was more to his past as well as Yugi's he'd given up playing games and settled to creating better things for his customers. Working on Kaiba Land projects as well as more detailed holographic simulation technology for both duel disks and dueling fields, also investing time into a massive multi-player virtual reality system. A project he'd avoided for a while after the events with Noah, he'd needed a break from V.R. after that hassle.

He hadn't spent time with Yugi or his friends, occasionally Mokuba would comment on them but as the years passed even his younger brother hadn't had the time to bother with the midget or his annoying cheerleaders. Though he'd heard about Yugi's grandfather's death, he remembered that Mokuba had insisted on taking a day off from studies to attend the service.

It was a bit of a surprise for him to see Tea wandering aimlessly along the streets in the docks, not to mention in such a manner of dress. Her clothes were dirty, her hair greasy, and her eyes puffy from crying. She looked like hell.

"_Wonder what's wrong with the cheerleader? Yugi finally lose a duel or something?"_ Kaiba idly wondered, raising a brow when he watched her pick the lock and move into one of his companies warehouses. _"Breaking and entering, and trespassing. There isn't anything stored in those warehouses at the moment though. What is she doing?"_

He considered just calling security to have her thrown in jail for a night or two. But, he didn't have anything to do for a few days - getting a rise out of Yugi's friends had always been an enjoyable way to waste a few minutes. He could just kick her out himself.

He shook his head to himself and headed toward the door after her, though the place seemed empty enough he moved over to the office and paused as he looked through the window.

The lighting was poor in the office with only one window and the lighting being dim already in the evening. She was laying across the desk - it had been mostly empty. She had a backpack settled under her head like a pillow and was using a piece of newspaper like a blanket.

"_Is she homeless now? It seemed like it was about to rain outside, is that why she's here?"_ Kaiba watched the trying to slumber Tea inside, hand still paused on the door's handle. _"I should just kick her out…but I'd never hear the end from Mokuba."_

He was still wondering just what would have happened to leave the once mouthy Tea sleeping on the abandoned desk of one of his unused warehouses.

"_I don't care…it doesn't concern me."_ He decided, opening the door.

"Didn't take you as the criminal type Gardner."

_**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**_

Tea didn't like the idea of breaking into a building even if it was unused. She'd never seen these warehouses hold anything in the years of her living in Domino but they were still pretty well kept and had some security so if she had to sleep somewhere it seemed like the best idea.

It was a good thing she paid attention that time Joey was showing her how to pick a lock with a library card. She tried to ignore the indignity of sleeping like some common homeless person and instead tried to think about nothing so she could get to sleep.

Her mind hadn't silenced in days though, ever sense Yugi died and Joey fell apart the only rest she'd gotten was when her body had just been too exhausted to keep going. Her grumbling stomach was just another distraction but with the poor sleep she'd gotten the last two nights she was starting to pass out fairly quickly.

Though even her unconsciousness haunted her with disjoined images and haunting memories of the past months, nightmares were threatening when a deep voice cut into her unconsciousness and snapped her awake.

"_Didn't take you as the criminal type Gardner."_

"Kaiba?" She asked dumbly, the last person she'd expected to see was the old rival of Yugi, half wondering if this wasn't some sort of drowsy hallucination.

"Catching on as fast as usual I see." He commented with boredom, looking directly at her…his striking gaze and superior tone cutting right into her. "Don't worry though, if you don't want to tell me, you can tell the cops when they arrive."

"…the cops?! You called the police on me!?" Tea exclaimed, suddenly nervous - she hadn't meant any harm. "Why would you do that?"

"You are trespassing Gardner." He shrugged smugly. "These warehouses belong to the Kaiba corporation. We can't just let any trash come in here and dirty up the place."

"I…didn't mean to hurt anything." She deflated, looking down and away from Kaiba. "I'm sorry…I'll just go somewhere else…I…please don't arrest me…"

She seemed on the edge of tears, which made Kaiba hesitate a moment. "I haven't called security…yet…why are you here?"

"I…don't want to go home." Tea commented lowly. _"Great…of all the places I could break into it had to be somewhere this jerk would come and bother me. Haven't seen him in years and then now he catches me…I have the worst luck."_

"Why is that…mommy and daddy having issues?" He returned coldly. "Won't get you the dress you wanted?"

"Why are you such a jerk!?" Tea snapped back at him, starting to get angry and trying to fight away the emotional tears threatening to fall. "My parents might be getting divorced yeah…and they fight all the time…and I don't want to be around it anymore so I left. Why can't you just leave me the hell alone or just go ahead and call the cops! Jail's got to be better than putting up with you."

"_Me and my big mouth…I'm gonna end up in the slammer!" _Tea put a hand nervously over her mouth after the rude ultimatum.

"Good to know you haven't turned into a complete wimp over the years Gardner." Kaiba commented, amused he finally got the rise out of her that he was looking for. "Come on."

"Uh…" She hesitated as Kaiba turned around and headed toward the exit of the warehouse. "Where?"

Kaiba stopped walking but only turned his head over his shoulder to look at her. "I don't want to hear Mokuba complain if I toss you in jail. You can stay at the mansion for a couple of days, but that's it…after that you need to deal with your own issues. I'm not a charity."

She blinked and continued to stare as he moved over, not pausing again until he reached the door. "Unless you care to sleep on the desk…I suppose I can give you that if you'd rather have the warehouse as a room."

"Uh no…coming." The last comment seemed to make her jump into action, knocking the newspaper away and then grabbing her backpack to dash over and follow him outside. "Um…thanks Kaiba."

"Just don't get in the way of Mokuba at the mansion, he has a lot of studies he needs to do well on." Seto shrugged at her, moving back toward where he'd parked his car.

"Right…" She nodded a little. She wouldn't mind bugging Kaiba but she wouldn't want to disturb Mokuba during his final years - he went to a pretty prestigious private school as far as she knew so it had to be hard on him already.

"First thing though, you'll probably want to get a bath and some new clothes. You look like hell Gardner." Kaiba commented as he unlocked the car.

"_That egotistic bastard…" _Tea resisted the urge to tell him off. _"But I could use an actual bed and a shower…I just wonder if I'll be able to put up with Kaiba in the meantime. Guess it's true what they say; everything has a price."_

She took a deep breath and then sighed, resolving herself to put up with Kaiba for a couple of days so she wouldn't end up sick on the streets. It would at least be a way to avoid her parents and her pathetic life for a little while longer…

**End Chapter**

_Okay, well that was nice and emo. Writing Kaiba being a jerk was my favorite part! Wait…does that make me a jerk? ponder Anyway. This fiction and it lasting will pretty much depend on any feedback (or lack thereof) that I get for it. I have a lot of other stories to fiddle with if people don't end up liking my little opening for this one._

_-Aura_

_P.S. Stuff!_


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